Forgotten
by ClearEyes
Summary: Once Jack returned from the test the Man in the Moon applied to him, he discovered shockingly that Jamie can no longer see him. That means he no longer believes. Follow the Guardians as they help their newest member regain the belief of the child with the help of a very powerful spirit, who could be a friend or a foe. Sequel to "Living" finally out.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello guys! Finally, the long waited sequel to "Living" is out! As always, I'm starting with a short first chapter, which will elongate as the story goes. Still, I wrote more than two thousand words, so it's not too short for you. I hope you like this story and that you still support me. I have added some characters of my own, on this chapter only one, but the rest belongs to DreamWorks animation. The plot is also mine, as you all know. Here comes Chapter One! Enjoy!**

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Chapter One

Jack was sitting next to the window of his room at the North Pole staring at the white landscape. He had his hood covering his white hair and he was lost in his own thoughts. It had been a week after he passed his test, a week after discovering that Jamie couldn't see him. He still felt shocked about it, and he was in a depressed state that not even the guardians knew how to help him be cheerful again. Unbeknownst to him, the four other guardians were peeking inside his room through a very thin opening of the door. With a sigh, they took retreated back to the globe room.

"He's been like that for a week, it can't be normal, can it?" Bunny said, beginning to miss the laughter and pranks of Jack, even if he were to regret it later.

"I don't understand. What could have happened between Jamie and Jack that he's been so upset about it?" Tooth asked remembering when Jack flew into the workshop after he left excitedly to visit to Jamie looking tired, shocked and utterly destroyed. She remembered how North and Bunny joked with him about being too soon for him to be back, or about how Jamie might have been asleep, and a bunch of other hypothetical nonsenses. Jack flinched, but he didn't argue or fought back. He just kept hovering slowly a few feet above the ground before going to his room and locking up inside of it. He hadn't left it since.

"We figure it out, we help Jack," North said firmly and looked at the other guardians. Sandy seconded the motion with both his thumbs up and Tooth nodded. Bunny took a step forward "I'll go, it's been a while since I last saw the little ankle biters," and afterwards he tapped three times on the ground and hoped into the hole that appeared beside him. When it closed, there bloomed a tiny flower.

"I'll go try and talk to Jack," Tooth said heading towards his room. She hoped it wasn't futile like the past times she had tried to talk to him. He would just stare at nothing in particular in complete silence. Tooth spoke and asked questions, but Jack never even turned to look at her. He never even acknowledged her presence, and that hurt the Tooth Fairy deeply. She took a deep breath and entered Jack's room. He was still by the window looking at the landscape, well, his eyes directed that way. Tooth could tell that he wasn't seeing anything. Tooth reached out her hand and was about to speak, but Jack beat her to it.

"Why is it that Jamie can't see me? Is it because I took too long? Did he lose faith in me…?" he asked in a pained voice, to no one in particular. Tooth was really shocked. Jamie could not see him? Wow, that was enough to upset anyone; and it was enough to get a usually cheerful spirit down into a heavy depression. Just remembering about when she was not believed in…

"Jack…" she started but Jack cut her off. He looked at her sternly, his eyes reflecting confusion and pain. He didn't understand… he couldn't. It just didn't make any sense. Jack looked like he was about to cry, but he was not going to do it in front of Tooth. He turned his head back to the window, as if he didn't expect an answer, and fell into a heavy silence once again. "Jack, I'm sorry," she said. She didn't really have any words of comfort. When she lost her believers, she had felt so weak and so sad. To Jack it must have been awful, not only because he lost a believer, but he lost his very first one. To anyone it would have been shocking.

Jack snorted. "Don't be. You don't have to. I knew that if I told any of you, you would just say that and feel bad because you can't do anything about it. But I just can't keep quiet anymore… I want to understand, I need to," Jack explained bitterly, his voice completely serious. The once happy and mocking voice he used to use when he spoke was gone and replaced by sadness and despair. Tooth looked down, not knowing what to do. Then, an idea came to mind: Jack helped her get her believers back; she would do the same for him. In a swift and fast motion, one that not even Jack anticipated, she flew to Jack and hugged him tight.

"We are going to figure out what to do together, Jack. That's what friends are for; we will all help you," she told him in a low voice.

"Ya' bet we'll do," Bunny said from the door frame, looking at Jack and Tooth with wide eyes and a mischievous grin, startling both of them and thus breaking the hug. Once Tooth got the meaning behind Bunny's smirk, she blushed and fluttered clumsily away from Jack. He on his depression, awe and simply shock didn't get it, but instead stared confused at Bunnymund, North and Sandy, who had been peeking in the conversation from the other side of the door. All three of them had expectant looks on their faces, and behind the façade they were feeling guilty for peeping.

"You will…?" That's all Jack could mutter in his state of shock. He wasn't exactly thinking straight, so he didn't even consider that his fellow guardians were spying on him.

"I just came back from Jamie's house," Bunny started, Jack flinched when he heard the name of his first believer, that now didn't believe. "Surprisingly enough, he seemed quite able to see me just as Sophie could. What I noticed was that there is a big, very big statue of you in the middle of the park. Don't you think there might be a connection?" he explained briefly.

"You let yourself be seen by mortal children?!" Tooth fluttered in shock. That was a silent ruled imposed on them by the Man in the Moon. They should never be seen by the children they protect. Fighting Pitch was an exception; they needed to get the children to believe once more; even Manny allowed it.

"It had to be done," Bunny said sharply, and Tooth flew away fanning her face.

Jack meditated on the rabbit's words. It was true that there was a statue, but it was forgotten as soon as he noticed he wasn't seen by the kid he cherished so much. True was too that he never considered that there could be a connection at all, but now that it was mentioned it made perfect sense. Although he still didn't know how, Jack knew it made sense; it had to, it was the only explanation and he planned to hang on to it. "Maybe it has, but I can't figure out how," Jack replied honestly and a little hopeful.

Seeing his reaction, the guardians cheered inside of them. The small steps towards recovery were already been taken, and the guardians would be there to support Jack. "Let's go to the library," North suggested and everyone nodded. Jack stood up, but he did it too fast and was about to fall face first to the floor.

Bunny saw it and he rushed to catch the boy. He made it just before Jack's nose kissed the ground and before the guardian that nipped at noses would have broken his. "Easy there," Bunny told him and Jack chuckled for the first time in the week. That made everyone smile. Bunny helped Jack regain his balance, and he did but he was still weak. "When was the last time you had a proper meal?" Bunny asked.

Jack thought about it. "I think in the party after we returned," he confessed and everyone glared at him. "I'm sorry, I'll eat now. I promise," he said raising a hand in front of him and soothing the guardians. They all nodded, but at the same time made a mental note to force some food down the kid's throat. They got out of the room, Jack walking while leaning heavily on his staff. As promised, they stepped into the kitchen before going to the library. There, the yetis prepared a nice meal for the guardians, who ate in silence.

The meal consisted of roasted chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, Cesar salad, chicken broth, meat broth, among other delicacies and fruits, lots and lots of fruit; Tooth claimed she was vegetarian. Jack wondered how the yetis had prepared all that so fast, but he didn't ask fearing it would be rude. Even when the atmosphere had lightened up a bit, Jack was still depressed that Jamie couldn't see him. It didn't surprise anyone, but it still worried them. Jack ate a lot, even when he tried to disguise it. He hadn't noticed how hungry he was until he saw the food in front of him. He tried to keep himself calm and eat like a civilized person, and not devour the food in front of him. There were still some parts of him that he didn't want the guardians to see.

When he tasted the broth, he couldn't help remembering his mother. The broth she prepared for him when he first arrived to his home was the best he had ever had. Besides, it had the prefect ingredient that Jack had missed so much: family love. And now, remembering it, he cherished the feeling and longed for his family. He couldn't help but feel a little lonely; yes, he had the guardians and they were his family too, but he missed his mother's warmth, his father's strength, his sister's innocence. And with Jamie not seeing him… it was even lonelier. Jack had wanted to tell the kid everything about him, because he knew Jamie was a lover of the stories. He missed him.

Jack was about to spill tears right there on the table, but he controlled himself. He didn't dare look at the guardians, so he finished his meal in silence. Still, the guardians did notice Jack's feelings and his urge to cry. They wanted to soothe him, to make him feel at home, but they knew that after being with his real family they would have had to deal with being just there for him. He would need time to sort his emotions and his thoughts. They also kept eating in silence.

When everyone finished they headed to the library. Jack's mouth dropped when he saw the infinity of books that were in North's workshop. He never thought he would find so many books all in one place. North laughed as he patted Jack's back. "It's amazing, isn't it? When someone is immortal, books start collecting themselves in the shelves, some to be read several times while others to be forgotten. Now, we look for the cause of Jamie's disbelief;" he told the still stunned child and the guardians split. Tooth and Sandy, who could fly, went to the top shelves; North, Bunny and Jack stayed with the bottom ones. The shelves were infinite. They extended all the way from the floor to the ceiling in form of a cylinder. The books there were as many as the stars in the sky, and the guardians knew it would take a while to sort all of them.

North was not a naive man, and he knew his books as much as he knew about making toys. The chance of finding the explanation for Jamie's disbelief would not be found there among North's books; that kind of information was stored elsewhere, but not on the workshop. He also knew that Jack wouldn't give up until he had read every page on every book, and he hoped it would keep him busy while the North would search somewhere else. He thought he knew the cause, and he feared it was true. Still, he didn't have the heart to break a child's heart. He would do his best to fix everything, even if it had to be done behind Jack's back, and he counted on the support of the other guardians. North made up an excuse of needing to check on the Yetis and he left the library and took to his office. There he has his own personal journal and his own resources to get information; one of them was stored inside a snow globe, or a portal, which is the same.

He threw it and he was suddenly in the top of a very high mountain. There he found himself completely alone, but he knew he was being watch. "Show yourself, for I know you are here!" North exclaimed and in front of him the landscape shivered. He thought for a moment that he was seeing a mirage, but then it took form and in front of him stood a very tall woman. She had brown hair, like the trunk of the healthiest tree; her skin was a beautiful tan and she was dresses in green leaves that formed a dress that melted with the land on her feet. Her aura was powerful and intimidating, but she also radiated warmth and love towards all living things. That woman was the personification of none other than Mother Earth.

She bowed her head slightly, as a sign of respect, and spoke with a soft voice that seemed to be the conjunction of the winds or the sound of a waterfall. Still, it didn't sound messy, but just the opposite. She was also the personification of peace, order and balance. She was a woman that reflected respect. "St. Nicholas North; I must say this is a surprise. What brings you here?" she asked respectfully.

"I have an inquiry on an important matter; I am positive that you already know what I mean;" North told her but she didn't make the slightest sign of recognition on the matter. _Of course it wouldn't be that easy_, he thought and sighed. "The Man in the Moon tested Jack Frost. For that he asked the Master of Time a favor. Now Jack's first believer can't see him, meaning he doesn't believe in him. I have a theory about what happened, but only you can confirm my suspicions," North finished. Mother Earth made a face.

"Why would the Man in the Moon test Jack Frost? He's an elemental;" she asked North, with the pride only she could attain. North gulped. So Mother Earth didn't know Jack was a guardian; that was wrong in many ways. Being an elemental, Jack was under the responsibility of Mother Earth and not only of the Man in the Moon. To create a winter spirit, Manny required help. North decided it would be best to get over with it.

"Jack Frost became a guardian last spring," North told her and he witnessed the reaction he wanted to avoid. Mother Earth's beautiful features turned into an angry glare, still beautiful, but now dangerous. Her powerful aura turned into a powerful and fury aura that made North flinch a bit, but he couldn't back off. He needed to find the reason of Jamie's disbelief.

"The Man in the Moon did what?! How dare he turn an elemental under my responsibility into one of the guardians without consulting with me first? That would explain a lot of things concerning Jack's change in behavior now though," she said containing here rage. She would have a long, nice talk with the Man in the Moon that night, but first she needed to take care of Jack's matter. "Why is it that you seek me for help? The Man in the Moon is responsible for the guardians, isn't he?" she said quite spitefully. North cleared his throat.

"I do not know what matters you have to fix with Manny, but right now my priority is Jack. I would like to consult with you the reason why a child would stop believing in Jack in the blink of an eye," North explained and his serious tone surprised Mother Earth. He was not being disrespectful; quite the contrary. He was doing his best to keep his politeness while being firm in his desire to help the white haired child.

"Fine, I'll help you," she finally said after a long, meditative silence. "On one condition, though," she added. North suspected it wouldn't be anything good. "I understand that Jack is under my responsibility, and I do not wish anything wrong to happen to him and that's the reason I'll help; but I am still uncomfortable with the fact that the Man in the Moon dared to step over my authority and chose him, of all the other spirits, to become a guardian. I know why he did it, I know it was a wise choice, but someone must be punished for his lack of respect. When we sort this out, I will chose one guardian to step down."

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**Cliffhanger! So, what did you think about the first chapter of this sequel? Do you like it? Do you hate it? Review and tell me your comments, suggestions or even questions. I was glad that some people did ask me about the ending of "Living", and I answered the best I could without giving away too much of the plot. Thank you for reading, and see you on the next chapter. Oh, and if you see any mistakes in the grammar or in some words or something, feel free to tell me.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Don't kill me! Finally, my tests are over and I will be updating more often. I apologize to you all for the delay but I just a had a crazy week. I'm sorry. But, here I am with another chapter to forgotten. I'm sorry if it's short, I promise to do better on the next one, and I hope it answers some questions. Here we go with chapter two!**

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Chapter Two

North stood there too stunned to reply for a moment. When he finally recovered from the shock, and when he finally found his voice… well, let's just say he knew how to use it. "What did you say?! And why would Manny allow you to make us step down? Do you really want to help?!" North asked Mother Earth furiously. He could not conceive the idea of someone stepping down. That was just too horrible, too painful.

"You heard me, North. The Man in the Moon stepped over me and chose Jack as a guardian. Not only did he choose it, but Jack indeed became one of the guardians of childhood. Isn't it fair that I get to choose someone to step down? After all, five guardians it's just too much…" she replied coldly and North was once again stunned and shocked. "Do you or do you not want my help?" she asked him.

"I thought I could count on you because you helped Manny create Jack. I thought you cared about the boy more than what you cared about yourself. I did want your help, but the price you demand it's just too high. I'll find help somewhere else if you do not wish to help me, because I will not put my friends in a gambling table," North told her sternly and took the snow globe he would need to return.

"Very well, I understand. I hope you find what you're looking for, Nicholas St. North, Guardian of Wonder," Mother Earth told him before dissipating into the air. North sighed. He had no idea where he would find the confirmation he needed, but he was sure that he was not willing to speak in behalf of any of the guardians or to put them in jeopardy. He threw the snow globe and walked through the portal.

Back in the workshop, North found it to be eerily quiet and headed for the library. He could not help but smile when he opened the door and found the four guardians spattered and asleep on any available surfaces that were not occupied with books and dust. Tooth was murmuring softly in her sleep with a slight blush on the cheeks in a high shelf. Sandy was standing with his head hanging, sleeping as soundly as he would in a bed. Bunny was with all his limbs extended to the sides in a giant 'X' in the middle of the floor, snoring loudly. Jack was in one of the couches, hugging his knees with his head resting on top of them and his hoodie covering his hair. If North had had a camera, he'd have taken a picture of the scene. He chuckled to himself and went to one of the tables with a book opened; the one Jack had.  
North was surprised when started reading it and he discovered one of his ancient story books. This book was very special for North, because it was one of the few things he had left from his own time before he became a guardian. The story Jack was reading was of an orphan, a common sight when North was still human, and it told about the hardships the kid had to deal with before he found a family: a group of friends that cared for him like no one else and that he grew to love by the end of the story. North couldn't help but wonder why would Jack be reading that, but then he realized the similarities between the story and his own life. North felt ashamed once more for having abandoned that child so much time, but he could not dwell on that.

North picked up Jack bridal-style smoothly and took him to one of the many spare rooms in the workshop. The boy was as light as a feather, and that worried North. The three hundred years of malnourishment had taken a toll on the winter spirit's body, and yet he found a way to remain always cheerful. The guardian of wonder put all those thoughts aside and tucked the boy into a bed to sleep. His hoodie fell from his face and North could see the trace of dried tears down his cheeks. He needed to find the reason of Jamie's disbelief and return it, so that Jack could be happy again.

As soon as Jack was tucked in bed, North went back to the library feeling hopeless. Mother Earth had contacts all over the world because, well she was the Earth, and so she would have been great help. But he would not betray his friends, unless they talked about it as a group and agreed to her conditions. He arrived to find Bunnymund rubbing his eyes tiredly; he had just woken up to the sound of footsteps. When Bunny saw him he stood up, slowly, just like someone who has just being interrupted from sleeping.

"How'd it go with Mother Earth?" he asked him. All the guardians knew of his destination, even when they didn't really know the reason why they needed the help of that woman. They had agreed when North told them it was for Jack's sake. North sigh, hoping he wouldn't disappoint his friends too much.

"She wasn't happy to find out Jack had become a guardian," the large man said while sitting on his chair in front of Bunny.

"And why would she need to be happy about it? She's called 'mother' but she had nothing motherly on her," Bunnymund retorted and smiled sideways at his own joke.

"Well, in a way she is Jack's mother just as the Man in the Moon is his father. She is in charge of all the elemental spirits, even when she has a cold personality," North told him.

"Cold personality, you say? The ice Jack makes is warmer than her. So, what did she tell you about… you know?" Bunny asked.

North breathed deeply before answering. "At first she told me she would help, but then she put a condition to her services. I denied it and she wouldn't have it any other way, so in the end she won't help us," the big man known as Santa Claus answered his furry friend. Bunny snorted.

"It was kind of obvious," he just said while shrugging. "Why do you want her anyway?"

"Because she could help us" North simply said.

"Yeah, like she always has I suppose, right?" Bunny replied with his voice full of sarcasm. "She's never helped with anything if she doesn't get something in exchange and you know that."

"I thought she would be different when it concerned Jack," North said looking into the fireplace.

"Why would you think that? She only helped creating him and after that did nothing else for him, why would it be different now?"

"Fine, I get your point Bunny. It was a mistake and now we have to do it ourselves, happy?" North said looking at the rabbit with a frown on his face. Bunny didn't reply but looked away, and Santa Claus just nodded. "First, we need to find someone who has eyes all over the Earth; second, that spirit must be supportive of us and Jack. I don't want my encounter with Mother Earth to repeat with everyone."

"What about Cupid?" Bunny asked.

"He's too cheesy, don't you think?" North replied.

"Maybe the Greeks will do?"

"They would never help us;" North retorted.

"The Man in the Moon might want to help us?"

"He already made the test," North complained.

"I know! Who's been with Jack for as long as he was created?" Bunny asked him with a spark in his eyes. North thought about it for a while but didn't seem to know the answer; Bunny sighed and face-palmed himself. "The Wind, North; the Wind" he said as if it were the most obvious question. Realization dawned on North and he stood up fast while raising a fist and laughing so hard he woke up the other guardians.

"Shhh!" All of them yelled while they stumbled to cover the big man's mouth. "Do you want to wake up the kid?" Tooth told him while she let him go.

"I'm sorry, but Bunny here had a marvelous idea. We will ask the wind for help," North stated and everyone put on quizzical looks. "What?" he asked innocently.

"We need to know why you need help so badly, North; that's so that we can help Jack too," Tooth explained the cause of everyone's confusion. North then remembered that he hadn't told any of his fellow guardians the real motives. He sighed.

"Fine, I think I have no choice. But first, tell me who can communicate with the wind besides Jack? He cannot know absolutely nothing about this" North warned and Tooth raised a shy hand.

"The wind has helped me sometimes when I'm in a rush, and he is always gentle with my fairies and helps them go faster," she said and North nodded. She was going to deliver the news to the wind when he had told them.

"Let's start from the begging," North told them and started telling them his reasons for seeking help from outsiders, so to say. "And so, because of that I believe that Jamie doesn't not believe in Jack anymore, but I need to confirm that hunch with something that has access to everywhere in the world any time of year," he finished as everyone gasped.

"Are you sure…?" Bunny asked.

"But if it's true then why are we still the same?" Tooth voiced her question.

Sandy, on his own way, made a whole lot of them but as always when he talked too fast no one understood what he said. He pouted and expelled sand from his ears in an angry manner.

"That's why I needed Mother Earth, which can be easily replaced by the wind if anyone here can communicate with it," North clarified. "We cannot do anything to fix it until we have that matter covered, and you now know the reason why," he stated and everyone knew he was right, even if they didn't want to wait. As they were about to say something, the door opened and Jack walked in rubbing the sleep off his eyes.  
"What's going on guys? Why is there a commotion so early?" he asked and yawned immediately after.

"Early…?" Bunny asked as everyone turned to see the first rays of light braking through the horizon. They had been up all night discussing this and that that they had forgotten to sleep at all, not that they really needed it.

"Oh my…! I need to get back to the palace, make sure that my fairies did everything smoothly. I need to get back to work," Tooth said fast as she waved a fast goodbye at everyone. When she reached Jack she hugged him and touched his cheek. "Don't worry, we'll fix everything. I promise," she said and went flying through an open window."

"That means you stayed up all night…?" Jack asked, waking up a little more. "For me?" His eyes were looking to the ground in shame. He never wanted his friends to lose any sleep or to sacrifice their jobs. The remaining guardians noted it and North put a big hand on top of Jack's small shoulder.

"How about some breakfast, then?" he said and led Jack into the kitchen. While he sat down on a chair, North dragged Bunny and Sandy into the hall with him and started whispering to them.

"We need to cheer Jack up. He needs to go spread winter somewhere while we do research, understood?" Bunny and Sandy nodded. "Bunny, I want you to keep an eye on the Bennets if you please, and don't let them see you this time. Sandy, you go with Jack and try to distract him. Go out with him, spread dream and snow around, get him to talk to you."

"And what will you do, North?" Bunny asked.

"I'm going to find a book" he replied with a stern look that didn't leave room for his friends to ask. "Now go, before Jack suspects something."

And with that, each guardian went to his personal mission. On her own Tooth was trying to get the wind to talk to her, like it sometimes did, while she was doing her job. Sandy managed to get Jack out of the workshop and they went somewhere to Russia to spread snow. The look of happiness in the children faces made him remember the reason he was a guardian, and he decided he would do everything to get Jamie back. Who was that depressed and gloomy guy sitting in the window sill and self pitting himself? That was not him and he felt ashamed of his tantrum and behavior. He would make it up to his friends or he would stop calling himself Jack Frost. Bunny kept a close eye on the Bennets and tried to figure if the hunch North had was true, but he couldn't find anything. On his own, in an abandoned library some deserted place, North was looking through the shelves desperately. With a yell of excitement, he jumped in the air with his hands on a dusty book that looked at least a thousand years old. "I have found it!"

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**So, what did you think? It was short, wasn't it? I'm sorry, I'll write a longer one, but I've been too stressed out to think properly and I don't want to ruin the story because of something like that. Thank you for reading, please review and let me know you opinions and critics. I'm sorry for the shortness and the delay of the chapter. I'll update more often now that I'm free at last! See you soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey there everyone! I owe all of you, my readers, a huge apology the size of the world or even bigger. I had this huge workload, tons of stress and the cherry on top was writer's block, so it wasn't nice. I had to read a lot of books, reread some of my favorites, watch movies, clips, scenes… overall, anything to get the inspiration I needed. Finally, after rereading Pride and Prejudice for second time I found the inspiration I needed. I don't know how that relates to this but anyway, enough with the intro. I hope you all forgive me and that you enjoy this chapter, which might be a bit smaller than the others. I was also thinking that this story will be shorter than living, but I don't know it yet. So, here we go with chapter three! (Finally ¬_¬)**

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Chapter Three

Jack was sitting on top of the statue that represented him while he watched the kids playing around at the bottom. He was lost in thought while Sandy watched him from the bushed; it was his job to keep Jack safe. Meanwhile, on the North Pole the other Bunny and North were discussing on how to proceed.

"So, you're saying that nobody in the world will be able to see Jack, right? That's what you want to confirm with the wind?" Bunny asked again for the millionth time.

"Yes, Bunny," North replied for the millionth time.

"And then what? If it's true then what are we going to do and why is that happening?" Bunny asked.

"What do you think I'm searching among all this books?" North asked rhetorically. "Now help me, Tooth should be here soon with news from the wind."

They kept on looking through old and dusty pages for the answer of an unprecedented problem. On his own, Jack suddenly jerked up from his taciturn state. The impact of the revelation he just had was enough to send him flying a few feet above the head of the statue. Sandy saw this and raised an eyebrow in confusion, which was changed into a frown when Jack couldn't keep himself in the air any longer and fell into the ground with a loud thud. Of course, no one noticed except the Sandman. He made a butterfly of sand and sent if flying fast to alert the rest of the guardians.

Jack was panting on the ground; he had an acute, strong pain in his chest that wouldn't go away. Soon it was time for the children to go home and he was left alone in the snow he had previously commanded. He had tears in his eyes, from the pain and from what he discovered. When Sandy saw the coast clear, he approached Jack as fast as he could.

"S-Sandy" Jack said between gasps, surprise evident in his voice. "W-hat are you… doing here?" he asked as he managed. Sandy just gave him an exasperated look and a bunch of images flashed above his head, but Jack couldn't focus on them. "I know why Jamie and the other kids can't see me," he confessed to the Sandman shutting him up completely.

The Sandman knew Jack needed examination and so he formed a cloud of sand which could hold the teen guardian. After Jack was installed as comfortably as he could he sent the cloud to the pole, apologizing that he couldn't go with him. First, Sandy had to take care of the dreams of the children, make sure they were protected and then he would leave for the Pole too.

Jack arrived after a few agonizing minutes to the workshop. How he did the trip so fast in the cloud of sand, he would never know. The cloud deposited him gently in front of the main door and there he tried to stand, but couldn't. He tried again but failed and fell; he was expecting the icy cold ground on his face but instead he was greeted by strong and furry arms.

"Jack? What are you doing here? What happened to you?" Bunnymund asked him while he dragged the sick Jack to the library, where he sat Jack down into a small chair. The young guardian of fun had gotten worse during the trip; his face was flushed as if with fever, he was covered in sweat and his breathing had become more labored, barely able to grasp the air to get into his lungs. He felt as if he would pass out. It was too strange; never since becoming Jack Frost had he gotten sick, so why was he sick now?

"North," Jack said in a barely audible tone. "I know why the children can't see me."

As soon as Bunny entered the library with a barely conscious Jack, North had stopped what he was doing and neared them quickly to help. "Jack, don't worry about that now. What happened to you?"

"My temperature is rising" Jack said and as soon as those words left his mouth he knew he was right; he also knew the danger he was in and he had a hunch of the reason. "Because the children don't believe in me," he added after a few pants.

"What do you mean the children don't believe in you?" Bunny asked him, trying to understand the teen. "And what does it mean your temperature is rising? Is that even possible?"

"It… is. A-Anyway, the children… no, the whole world knows about me… I'm in world's history as the greatest legend… but that doesn't mean… that they believe." Jack finished his speech and was falling from the chair when North considered a better option to lay him down in the couch. Once he was settled, Jack could feel himself losing consciousness. His vision became blurry and the edges blackened. He felt warm liquid run down his cheeks when he realized he might not open his eyes again. "They don't believe, North" he said right before he fell into a dreamless slumber.

His words seemed to echo in the silence that fell over the two older guardians. Both didn't know what to say, they didn't know what to do.

"North…" Bunnymund started but was cut off by the larger man.

"That's the reason we were looking for," he said simply and emotionless, "the reason the children won't see him."

"And the reason he's ill?" Bunny asked.

"What happened to you when the children lost faith in the Easter Bunny? What happened to me, to Tooth? Jack is ill because of that, and unless we can fix this soon, there's a chance Jack might not open his eyes again."

He didn't finished saying this when a very flushed Tooth entered through the window followed by a very worried Sandy. The queen of teeth fluttered as fast as he could to where Jack was, and when she looked at him she couldn't help but gasp. The impression made her fluttering stop and she fell to the ground, almost losing her balance. In less than thirty seconds Sandy was also by Jack with a deep frown on his face.

"What happened to him?" Tooth asked with a tone that demanded an answer. "What happened to Jack?!" she said on the border of hysteria.

"We don't know, he just fell ill," Bunny told her exasperated.

"There must be a reason; we guardians only fell ill when…" she stopped and considered what she was about to say. Her eyes grew wide and she covered had to cover her mouth with her hands to maintain a sob inside of her.

"Exactly Tooth," North said reading into her expression. "The children don't believe in him, and we know that that's lethal for a guardian."

Sandy made a series of images on the top of his head, controlling himself to take the time necessary for the guardians to understand what he wanted to say. The first one was Jack, which was obvious, the second was guardians as a group, the third was a hand and the fourth was a question mark. The guardian's expression was priceless because they didn't get the message that Sandy was trying to transmit. Sandy sighed.

"How are we going to help him?" Tooth asked independently and Sandy jumped in excitement; he pointed at her with a huge smile on his face until he gave up, the guardians would never understand what he was trying to say. Just for the record, the question made by Toothiana was the very same one made by the Sandman, so even if they didn't understand him, they were in the same synchrony of thoughts.

"We need the children to believe in him again, but how?" Bunny asked and everyone frowned in concentration.

"How about pasting posters and stuff like that?" Tooth suggested.

"No one ever stops to read that stuff," North retorted. "But how about I make little Jack statuettes and we deliver them to all the children in the globe."

"Isn't that what the big statue in the park is doing? That won't help the children to believe in him; that would make him a toy."

Then Sandy made a light bulb above his head and everyone turned to look at him; this time he actually put himself in front of the guardians so that they could see him. He made the images of clouds, himself, sand, kids sleeping… that was an easy one that everyone understood.

"Are you saying to try to project belief into the children's dreams?" Tooth translated and Sandy, proudly, nodded.

"Why not give it a try? It makes sense" Bunny said and gave Sandy a thumps up.

"Well then, let's get started! We don't have much time…" North told the other guardians and he looked over to Jack, who was frowning in his sleep and his face had a reddish blush on his cheeks. "He doesn't have much time."

As if on cue, Sandy left to spread dreams. He would project into the children's dreams images of snow, of fun and then he would link it to Jack, hoping that it would work. As things were looking, it was probable that Jack wouldn't make it to the next sunset.

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**So, what'd you think? Too short? Too cheesy? Too bad? Was the waiting worth this or it wasn't enough? Please, your reviews is what keeps me going and what is keeping this story alive, so tell me what you think. Feel free to scold me, I deserve it, but avoid flames if you can.**

**I'll upload as soon as I can, which won't be too long considering I'm finally on vacation. **

**Thanks all of you for your support and I'm sorry for the delay. I hope you liked this and that you're not too angry with me.**

**Sincerely,**

**Clear Eyes**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone! After the failure that was last chapter, I finally got it right with this one. I hope you all like it; I can assure you is better than the last. I'm sorry for those who I disappointed; I know what's like to wait a lot for a chapter that's too short or not satisfying enough. I apologize for that. Now let's roll with chapter four! Enjoy!**

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Chapter Four

While Sandy put the plan in motion, Tooth stayed in the pole to take care of Jack. She was putting a cold rag on his forehead, North had helped to take his sweatshirt off and the fireplace was off. The yetis had even opened a few windows in one of the many spare rooms where Jack now laid because he couldn't stay in the library where the wind would blow all the books and paper.

After an hour or so without change, North came into the room to check on Jack and on Tooth, because even when she wanted to deny it, she couldn't help but feel like it was their fault, she couldn't help but think that she could've somehow avoided it. She heard when North entered the room and she turned to see him, both of them had the same expression of hopelessness set in their faces.

"So, um, Tooth… did you talk with the wind?" North asked after a few moments in silence.

"Yes, the wind told me that it would look around the world and ask around to the rains, clouds and of such. It is also worried about Jack, North. Do you remember when you were saying with Bunny that Mother Nature is cold and that she has nothing of motherly in her?" Tooth replied.

"You heard that?" North asked confused, as far as he knew everyone was asleep, except for Bunny and him.

"Obviously, North; you were speaking too loud. So, you know what I mean, right?" she asked him again and he nodded.

"What's that got to do with anything?" he asked her, confused by her questions.

"I spoke to the wind; you know it's been with Jack since he was reborn. Do you know what I found out?" Tooth has this look in his eyes which told North to be careful with his answer. It was that motherly look in which she asked a question for which she already knew the answer. North shook his head from side to side, dumbfounded by this serious aura surrounding his fellow guardian, his friend. "The wind is part of all the elemental spirits; you do know who controls them, right?" Tooth asked again, with the patience of a teacher explaining things to a kid for the first time in kindergarten.

"Mother Earth, of course!" North exclaimed feeling like Tooth was taking him for a fool.

"Yes, exactly!" Tooth agreed with him.

North couldn't see the connection. "I still don't know what that has got to do with anything!"

"Of course you don't," now Tooth was exasperated. "Mother Earth sent the wind to be with Jack! She didn't abandon him like you and Bunny claimed. The wind has been independent because Mother Earth designated him to take care of the new elemental spirit."

Toothiana finished her explanation with a sigh and sat down again at the foot of the table to change the wet rag on Jack's face. She was surprised to find it was quite hot, mostly for a winter spirit. Considering that a little kid with that temperature had fever, it meant Jack was high above what was considered healthy for him. During her rant she had stood up, walked around the room, moved her arms; and yet, it hadn't even been five minutes and the rag, which at the beginning was below the zero degrees now was that warm.

North had said nothing to reply to her, he instead had gone to the window and was now looking out to the white landscape while his head was somewhere around the ends of the Earth. "I might need to talk to Mother Earth again, because yesterday I didn't know any of this." After that he left the room.

Tooth was left on her own again, feeling hopeless. She suddenly felt warm liquid running down her cheeks, she was crying. She didn't even know she could shed tears, being a guardian and all. She had never felt so useless. She kept trying to lower Jack's temperature, but nothing seemed to work. He was shivering, his face was really red, even when he didn't have his coat on he was sweating; he looked bad, really bad.

* * *

North was pacing back and forth in his tiny office. He kept thinking on what Tooth told him; he had never seen her so upset over anything. He needed answers, because it was confusing him the fact that Mother Earth had been watching Jack the whole time and yet she refused to help them. Why?

He grabbed one of his snow globes and opened a portal with a sigh; he needed answers, he told himself, just answers. He appeared once again in the realm of Mother Earth, but this time, he found her talking to a small wood fairy, her eyes when she was not present. She dismissed the fairy, who disappeared in a flash of golden dust, before turning to see North. "Well, well, well, look whose back," she chanted, very pleased with the sight.

"I need answers" North simply told him, earning a raised eyebrow from the impotent woman before him. "We've talked to the wind, who says you commanded him to stay with Jack, to keep an eye on him and help him. So, I want answers, because I cannot understand how a powerful spirit such as you doesn't want to help us save the boy she's been watching for three hundred years and that became a mother in her own way by giving him life once again. I just can't understand."

The incredulous and amused look in the face of Mother Earth changed to one of rage and fury, the aura all around her turned called and many of the little animals habiting there went to hide from her. A chill ran down North's spine, and even when he lived all the way up in the Pole he felt cold, a kind of chill he never felt before.

"You don't get to ask me questions, North, because you never took the bother to try and understand me. You and the rest of the guardians believe that you are the top of every other spirit there because you're the ones people believe in. But what about the ones who work every day of the year and get no reward at all? I do much more that what you'll ever know, and I don't need people to believe in me because I know I exist, I know what I can do and I don't need reassurance. Jack would've eventually felt the same, the flow of time would dawn some understanding on him. But the Man in the Moon had to turn him into a guardian, for I don't know what reason, and now he's dying."

"Wha… How… did you…?" North mumbled awestruck, not knowing what to answer her.

"Just like you said, I'm like his mother. And just like I said, I do much more that what you'll ever know. Besides, I'm connected to all elemental spirits, even when Jack is a guardian I can still feel his life force. Belief can be the strongest or weakest thing in the world, North. It is so powerful, that even when one kid believes you don't die. But because it's that powerful it can also kill you if no one believes. Being a guardian, you feed on that; after that test, belief in Jack extinguished and now he's going to die. I can't stand to watch him die, North, not after I gave him life."

Mother Earth was not weak; she had heart hard a stone and unbreakable spirit. She was strong and always had the answers to everything; she could solve any problem that needed to be solved because she knew how. She was not a spirit to fall into despair, hopelessness or uselessness. But in that moment, in which North looked into her eyes, he knew that for once she did not know what to do. North could see that for once she was desperate and that alone was killing her. Maybe there _was_ something motherly on her after all.

"Then why won't you help us? We are searching like crazy for a way to make children believe in Jack again, we won't let him die;" North pleaded, scolding mentally for such loose of dignity on his part, but remembering that the cause was worth a try.

"You don't get it North, do you? Time is running out; do you know the reason no one believes?" The large man shook his head from side to side in a negative form. "Jack is in history books, everyone knows about him because he became a legend: a teen saved his town from an unknown danger. Real humans long ago stopped believing in magic, North," she said looking down.  
"And yet we are here, Leonora, the guardians feed on belief. Children believe in magic, children can believe that Jack isn't dead," North said from the bottom of his heart using her real name for the first time. She looked like she wanted to say something else, but she held back; she was hiding something, something important, but North was too wrapped up in trying to convince her to help that he didn't notice. She sighed.

"Fine, I'll help Nicholas," she told him in a whisper, also using his real name.

"Without conditions?" he asked, trying to keep himself from smiling; it wasn't true until she answered that.

"Yes, without conditions;" she gave up and shook a hand that North was offering her. He laughed as he always did: loudly. Even Mother Earth had to cover her ears. Without warning North took another snow globe, grabbed Leonora's hand, and opened the portal.

"I warn you, it's going to be a bumpy ride," he said right before he jumped into it and pulled the females spirit with him. She couldn't explain why it tingled in her stomach when she felt his hand in hers, but she brushed it off without giving it much thought.

They arrived in North's small office and Leonora had to hold into the desk to keep her balance. "Wow, that sure was… a blur," she breathed while she tried to stop the dizziness that threatened to overcome her. Just then they heard big, loud cursing from below them and the guardian of wonder facepalmed himself before going to meet the owner of such screams.  
"What is going on now, Bunnymund?" he asked the agitated rabbit, who had just came hopping from one of his holes.

"This…" he said and pointed at his furry feet, where a shy Sophie and Jamie where trying to hide behind Bunny's kegs. North's mouth opened wide while he watched as the children's eyes lit up. Bunnymund's reaction was just the same when he noticed Mother Earth, who was just entering the room alongside North. "What on Earth is _she_ doing in here?!" he exclaimed loudly.

"What are _they_ doing here?" North retorted. "You know as well as I that this place is off limits for children."

"Wow, this is Santa's workplace," Jamie said wide eyes. "And he is here, he is real!"

"Santa, Santa," Sophie repeated.

"Kids, you have to go home. Bunny, you will send them home…" North commanded but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"They might be of help," Mother Earth said gently. North looked at her and caught on what she wanted to say.

"Take them to the fireplace, keep them warm. The yetis will bring hot chocolate for them," he said before a pair of yetis led the way. Bunny sighed.

"May I ask you what are you doing North? Have you lost your mind?" He asked, slightly pissed off.

"Bunny, I present to you Mother Earth, Leonora I present to you Bunnymund, the Easter Bunny," he made small introductions and that earned hostile responses from both parties. "She can help, so she stays."

"But you said she…" Bunny started.

"I know what I said. There will be no conditions this time," North told him before another word was spoken. "Now, Mother Earth, explain us why the children might help."

* * *

Everyone knows children are not steady beings; they can't sit still and wait in a room and much less when they are in Santa's workshop. That was the case of Jamie and Sophie; well, just Jamie. The little girl had fallen asleep after she drank her hot chocolate. After all she was still small and it was her naptime. So, Jamie figured that, being on his own, he could explore a bit before being sent back home. Who knows what wonders Santa has in there?

He left through one of the many doors that gave entrance to what seemed like a library. He was still a kid, and one that cared more about games that reading what seemed really old and boring books. He wondered through a floor with many rooms, which were all empty, much to his disappointment.

He was about to give up on his exploring and go back to the library when he noticed one door he hadn't opened before. He decided it wouldn't hurt to try and so he entered. There, he saw a beautiful and colorful being, with glowing wings who looked like a female. She also appeared to be some kind of enlarged hummingbird, but with human features. She was sleeping in a chair need an empty bed and was holding something tightly on her hands. He neared the bed but saw nothing, which was weird because the lady was in same position his mother was when she took care of Sophie's fever a years ago.

Jamie was about to leave when Tooth woke up with a start and immediately checked Jack's fever. It was way too high and it didn't seem like slowing down at all. "There's nothing there," she heard a familiar voice next to her, but that seemed quite out of place. She turned to see Jamie's curious eyes and she jumped back with a start.

"What… how… when..?" she voiced a lot of questions, but none of them complete.

"You're the Tooth Fairy, aren't you?" he asked, and she could only nod, astonished.

"How did you get in here Jamie?" she finally asked, after being examined very closely by the curious kid.

"You know my name! The Tooth Fairy knows my name!" he exclaimed happily while he jumped around and about the room.

"Of course I do, don't you remember when…?" she started saying but stopped to think. Jamie met the guardians, including Jack, when Pitch threatened to destroy them. In the test Pitch resurfaced, threatened them _again_, and Jack destroyed him _again_! And they were in the past, three hundred years in the past, so… Tooth gasped.

She exited the room flying fast, Jamie having to run to catch up to her. She found the other guardians all gathered in the library and apparently they were discussing something important. "North!" she exclaimed and got everybody's attention.

"Oh, good, you found the boy," he said once he saw Jamie was with Tooth and everybody sighed in relief.

"Do you think it's possible that by any chance that what happened with Pitch on Easter might have not happened at all?" she asked him and North just stared at her as if she had gone crazy. In fact, everyone was staring at her like that. It was then that she noticed that Mother Earth was with them and she immediately went to meet her. "Oh, your eminence, you're here to help us, right? Oh, thank you so much. I've always wanted to meet you in person, but I had heard that not everyone could find your realm, and I was too busy to find it; anyway…" she was talking so fast that Leonora had to put a finger on her lips to shush her.

"Dear, calm down. Yes, I am Leonora, Mother Earth, but before you get so excited," she said when she saw Tooth's eyes start to light up, "explain to us why did ask that question."

Suddenly Tooth remembered her urgency. "Oh! You see, Jamie came into the room Jack's in, who isn't getting better at all, and he was all excited to meet me, and suddenly he said something like 'she knows my name, she knows my name', and I was obviously like 'well, of course, we defeated Pitch together', but then I started thinking that we went to the past, where Pitch was defeated by Jack, and so it may be that what happened last Easter never happened at all," she finished her explanation and had to stop to catch her breath.

"Is she always like this?" Mother Earth asked the guardians behind her and they just nodded.

"Especially when she's worried, or excited, or angry;" Bunny explained, earning a sigh from Leonora.

"Okay, so I guess you understood what she was saying," she said and they nodded just for confirmation. "Then translate, if you please."

"Do you know Manny put Jack to the test not too long ago?" North asked, hesitant.

"Yes." When they gave her surprised looks she just raised an eyebrow. "I told you I knew everything; I'm still in touch with the Man in the Moon and he told me he would do it, completely ignoring me when I said I didn't approve."

They all nodded at the same time, thinking, and the next to speak was Bunny. "In that test Pitch Black came to hunt us; he wanted to get rid of us and to get revenge in the process. Jack, of course, defeated him. He passed his test and officially became a guardian."

"Manny sent Pitch as part of the test?" Leonora asked, outraged.

"No, no, no; Pitch Black just appeared there in response to the fear of the children;" Tooth replied, slow enough for her to understand.

"Oh, that's explains it," she breathed in relief.

"We, the guardians," when Bunny specified that fact Mother Earth rolled her eyes; after all, who else were they talking about? Bunny caught that look and swallowed. "We defeated Pitch last Easter with the help of Jamie and his friends." He pointed to the kid, who was being distracted from the conversation by a yeti who was showing him some of the toys they made. They would need to change them later; the children were supposed to receive surprises and they weren't willing to take the risk if one of them knowing already what he was going to get. The boy was happily distracted, and didn't seem to be aware of his surroundings.

"What Tooth is saying that, if Jack defeated him in the past, then it's possible that we never defeated him in the present and thus the kids don't know anything about Jack;" North explained to Mother Earth and after the explanation he fell silent. "There's a possibility that Pitch was never defeated in the present!" He bawled loudly and then, only then, did it dawn on the other guardians.

"Then Jamie can help Jack;" they all said at the same time, leaving Leonora to wonder what the Christmas was that all about.

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**So, it was better, right? Tell me what you thought! Next chapter will most probably be about finding a solution and getting the kids back into believing. Will they make it on time or will it be too late for our friend Jack?**

**Thank you all for reading, thank you for your patience and for all the reviews I received. I read all of them and I really appreciate them. Please keep on reviewing!**

**See you on the next chapter,**

**Sincerely,**

**Clear Eyes.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hellooo, again! I could tell you tons of excuses for my absence, but they would not justify them, so I won't tell them. Just know I am very deeply sorry, some issues and problems came up, and that I hope I didn't take that long. I didn't take three months, though, and that's good… very good. I hope you like this chapter, I wrote it with love to you all, and I hope you like what's going to happen. I so not want this to end, but I feel that in a few chapters I'll be writing the "END" part. Sniff. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and again, I am deeply sorry. Enjoy!**

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Chapter Five

There was a huge uproar in the workshop. Jamie and Sophie were running around trying to get away from the yetis to explore the place, the yetis were noisily pursuing them while other complained to North, Tooth was roaming with her baby-teeth trying to coordinate the world from there, Leonora was doing something similar with nature, Bunny was arguing with Sandy about who knows what and, overall, everything was in major chaos.

North was trying to keep everyone happy, but it was getting a little too crowded to have any success. "Silence!" he yelled very loud and everyone and everything fell silent; the kids flinched and hide behind the giant legs of the yeti that was chasing them. "This is my workshop and you are guests, so please, try to maintain order. We are more than a thousand years old and are behaving like newbies, so please, do me that favor. Children, please behave, even if just a little. Guardians and Leonora come with me please."

The guardians did as they were told, for they had never seen North so angry before. "We need to make Jamie believe… now, what did Jack do in the first place?" North asked them once they were alone.

"Only he knows, neither of us was there," Bunny replied.

"Yeah, you were too busy blaming him for your own flaws and weaknesses," Leonora said sternly not looking at any of them.

"You also didn't help!" Tooth snapped. "What did you want us to do? He wasn't there when the Easter eggs broke and instead he had his teeth box, what were we supposed to think?"

"You could've trusted him a little more, maybe then he wouldn't have been so crushed. And I did help, I was watching when he flew away from you, broken and confused, shattered all because of you. If I hadn't intervened, he would've gone straight to the bottom of the ocean and you all would've perished, along with the children's belief."

Everyone looked down in shame on the weight of her words, which had some part of truth; the only one who didn't was North. "What's happened happened; now let's focus on helping him now just like he helped us last time. I don't believe he has much time left."

"Children believe in bedtime stories, fairytales and such… what about we tell Jamie a story?" Tooth suggested.

"That's a good idea. I saw Jack on the test telling the little kids a story about Pitch Black and they believed it, and that's the reason he came back and tried to destroy us all…again," Bunny complemented when he saw the skeptical looks on the faces of his partners.

"So, you're telling us to tell him a story? You do realize he has to go home to his parents soon, right?" Leonora retorted.

Everyone felt silent until Sandy started making signals above his head. Bunnymund translated them. "Take… Jamie… home. Tomorrow… he comes back… we… tell him… Jack's story… and sketch it."

"Does Jack has until tomorrow?" North asked.

"He will have to stay strong, to endure as long as he can, because it's the only way. We are meant to protect children, not to get them in trouble. Let's get the kid home;" Tooth said looking down, feeling completely useless and hopeless. She wasn't someone who liked to wait, she rather do everything as soon as possible because the next instant it might be gone. She wanted to cure Jack right there and then, but thousands of years of experience had taught her that she had to wait and be patience; even when she didn't like it. "I'll go be with Jack, he can't be alone right now," she said and left the room.

The rest of the guardians and Leonora kept on discussing the situation Tooth wasn't able to handle well. They agreed that a sketch would make everything more wonderful for a kid like Jamie and it would make him want to believe, that was the tricky part. After that they guessed it was going to come easy, so Bunny got the kids to their house despite their disagreement. He had to throw them Sandy's sleeping dust to take them, and soon they were dreaming in their rooms. Their mother was starting to worry about them, but when she found them sleeping in Jamie's room she just assumed she hadn't heard her children when they got back home. They were safe and sound and that's all she needed.

Leonora stayed in the Pole, warm in the workshop, sitting in front of the fire. She kept thinking about the day's event. Sandy was long gone and North had locked himself up in his studio making the decorations he considered "appropriate" for the sketch that would be happening the next day. Being mother Earth she was in charge of the special effects; piece of cake. She kept wondering and wondering about why had she snapped at North, back on her place. She had always being controlled and cold minded when it came to speaking with other spirits, in spite of what she was really feeling, but North had made her mad, angry and… he stirred something inside of her.

She was resigned to lose Jack, telling herself that she barely knew him, that she didn't care and stuff like that… or so she taught. It was in her nature to be motherly and care, she just couldn't bring herself to ignore someone in danger, especially when she helped in –what you could call –Jack's birth. She was chosen as Mother Earth because of that reason, she helped and cared for everyone; and she despised it. When she failed it was just too painful, so she decided to lock everything up inside.

Everything was fine, perfect even, until North came to her a few days ago… and then that morning. With him she was not controlled nor cold minded, with him she was… bubbly, fragile, warm… what was wrong with her? She had been alive and around far longer than the Guardians, since the origins of Earth and nature, and only then did she felt… whatever that was she was feeling. She didn't understand, and that thinking made her fall into an uneasy sleep. See what I mean? She never, ever, needed to sleep.

Meanwhile, another uneasy soul was drifting into the forced waves of unconscious. Jack may have looked peaceful on the outside, appearing to have the bliss and calm of ignorance by being mentally absent of the problems… well, he wasn't. As much as he wasn't awake, he was still aware. He heard yelling and fighting, like it was through water, and he couldn't understand much of it. That didn't stop him from recognizing the voices and his logical assumption was that it was his fault.

He was floating in never-ending darkness, and he wanted to find the light, but couldn't even open his eyes. _It hurts so much_, he was thinking. _I need to get out, I just want the pain to go away! _And suddenly, he opened his eyes to see himself surrounded in shadows. _Where am I?_

_Oh Jack, I'm going to have so much fun with you right now,_ said a sinister voice. _Now you're in my domain. You've always had the tendency to celebrate before you've actually won._

_Who are you and what do you want with me?_ He replied without opening his mouth. No one was actually talking, you see, they were only thinking.

_I'm hurt you'd forget me so easily, especially after you supposedly defeated the heck out of me, _the voice called before stepping out to reveal Pitch Black in all his might and glory.

_You!_ Jack hissed at him and got into a fighting stance. Pitch laughed.

_And just exactly what do you think you're doing? Look around yourself, you're in my domain. It's in moments like this when I realize that you were never that brave to begin with, because you still fear the darkness, hence… me._

As much as Jack hated him and would never admit it in front of him, he was right. All around them was only darkness and shadows, which accentuated the pale grey color on Pitch's skin and his bright yellow glowing eyes. The soft glow emanating from Jack, which was a light blue, flickered on and off right then.

_Yes, let my words sink in and fear consume what's left off your soul. _Pitch got closer a little bit. What the hell was happening? Jack defeated him, right? But maybe, just maybe, the strongest part of him stilled lived and fed in someone's deep unconscious: Jack's. So now that he was unconscious and couldn't get out, Pitch managed to drag him into the dark place in his heart where he resided to get his so wanted revenge.

_I defeated you twice and I can do it again,_ Jack called.

_Use your fingers Jack, in case you don't know how to count; first you don't have any of your friends to help you, _Pitch took one of his bony fingers in his hand and then got another one out, purposely treating the teen guardian as a toddler. _Second you don't have your staff, third and most importantly: you are completely in my territory._

Jack shook his head. _How can you even be here? I left you to the Man in the Moon keep you imprisoned._

Pitch laughed. _Who ever said I escaped said prison?_

_What do you mean?_

_Fear is everywhere Jack, and although I have and am stronger in a physical body, I am an essence, something ethereal. I can be everywhere and anywhere where someone fears the dark, and currently, that's you._ Jack gulped when he felt Pitch getting near him and the temperature became colder.

_That means you are inside of me? Of my soul? That's… disgusting. _He made a face. If he was meant to be stuck with the Boogie Man, he would do it his way. Maybe in a way it was now time to get over his own fears for good. Pitch growled and backed off when the light blue glow emanating from Jack, once diminishing, grew bright again. The teen smirked.

Out on the real world, where Pitch had no reach on anyone and was sure trapped, the guardians were preparing the stage where they would be doing the sketch for the children. North was putting the decorations he made in place, because he thought they were too precious for anyone but him to do it; Tooth was making sure the lighting would be okay and Sandy was with Leonora revising the script so that she knew when to do her thing. Who knew Sandy was such a great writer? Well, when he couldn't really speak because no one would hear him he would write. About everything, everyone and everywhere he wanted.

Tooth was tired. Even when she didn't need any sleep, her constant stress and worry over Jack's health was taking its toll on her. But she wasn't thinking on that at all that moment, instead, she kept thinking of something weird that happened through the night when she was watching him. Around four in the morning he grew awfully pale and cold; yes, Jack had to be kept cold but if the temperature dropped too much, the consequences would be bad, pretty much like a cold-fever. She was frightened when she even thought he was slightly see-through already, like he was ready to just fade away on them. She tried all night to get his temperature back to normal but nothing was working, so she just kept a watchful eye on him.

What was even weirder, though, it that by eight o' clock, when she was called down to eat her breakfast, Jack had already broken through his cold-fever and regained a little color. She was thrilled, but also a little confused. What could possibly have caused that? She didn't know, but she knew that if she tried to figure it out then she'd just be more confused. She stopped thinking about it, leaving it for later, because the show needed to be perfect if there was any chance, as slim as it was, that Jack would be coming back to them that afternoon.

Soon they heard the typical noise of a hole being opened in the ground and Bunny jumped out of it holding Sophie, who was playing with his fur. "Bunny!" they exclaimed and neared him.

"Hey guys" he greeted before fidgeting nervously in his seat. "I think we have an issue," he told them and with his eyes pointed to the hole on the ground. There was Jamie, and everyone sighed in relief; but there wasn't not only Jamie, but a bunch of other kids. Jamie was smiling nervously while everyone else was trying to get themselves together. Five kids, without Jamie, were in a tunnel created by the Easter Bunny who had gone to a meeting with the Tooth Fairy and the one and only Santa Claus. Yeah, they were definitely trying to keep it together.

"What happened?" North asked the overgrown rabbit with a sigh and roll of his eyes.

"Well, yesterday I told Jamie I'd pick him up and that he had to be there with Sophie. Apparently he told his friends, who didn't believe him, so he thought it would be easy to prove he was telling the truth;" Bunnymund explained. North was still looking at him skeptically. "They ambushed me!"

"Isn't it better? The more kids who know about Jack and believe, the sooner Jack gets better," Leonora told the guardians and they knew she was right. That lone spirit was getting more points herself than the guardians working together and somehow that pissed them off. But hey, she had been around at least ten times longer than the oldest of them, so she was wiser.

"She's right," Tooth said and helped the kids out of the tunnel. Her eyes were clouded with worry and concern, but she was disguising it well for the children; then, she addressed them. "We prepared something special for you, Jamie, but it'll be even more so if you share it with your friends. You can all stay, but you have to follow our rules, the ones to break them will have to leave."

The kids nodded and followed the guardians to the globe room, which had been adapted to be the stage. The yeti brought more chairs for the children and everyone sat down in awe, barely able to contain their excitement, while they ate with their eyes everything there was in the room. Bunny tried to place Sophie in her chair, but she seemed far more comfortable in his arms, so he just left her there.

The stage was completely covered in snow, which was altered somehow not to melt during the performance. On the background there were trees, painted dark and without leaves, leaving the impression of a forest. It was done so well that the kids really thought that if you stepped in the woods, you'd be lost forever. That was a nice beginning, because the children were already wrapped up. Then, out of the woods were coming two figures; one was a tall, thin teenager and the other one was a little young girl, probably their age.

The guardians considered no one should play the role of Jack, not that they could act at all, and decided that Sandy would take care of that. His role, besides writing the script, was creating the characters out of his dream-sand and animating them to act like he wanted them to. It was too tiring but worth it. Tooth was the voice, who was narrating the story for the children. It was all so full of magic that the children couldn't believe their eyes, and the guardians were pleased by their reactions.

On stage, the figures of Jack and his sister were skating. Suddenly, a loud crack was heard and the sand figures stopped. Leonora wasn't meant to be seen, so when the kids looked around to the source of the noise she couldn't help but giggle; they couldn't hear her anyway. They returned their attention to the stage when the figures look at the ice and saw it was breaking. To emphasize that fact, North made sure it would glow from underneath with some bulbs he found around. He also dimmed the lights so it gave the illusion that the sky went dark and all the children reacted accordingly; they shivered and braced themselves in anticipation.

Jack saved his sister and the kids sighed in relief, but Jack fell and they whimpered. The tallest girl on the group, Pippa (no pun intended), even shed a few tears when it happened. Then, the lights changed to a deep blue, getting there from yellow and pink, simulating the sunset and the passing of time. A white, round moon hanging from the ceiling descended and placed itself in top of the background. Behind it was a big theatrical light, which North was in charge of controlling just like the rest of the illumination, and from it a white beam lighted the center of the stage. Sandy made the figure of Jack to reemerge from the frozen lake, creating the figure as it was ascending to give the impression that it was really coming out from the water. Then the scene changed when Tooth started saying her next line as narrator: "Three hundred years passed with Jack living in solitude and invisible…"

The next part being played was the first fight against Pitch Black and when the kids believed in Jack for the first time since his creation. Then, a curtain fell from the ceiling and covered the stage, claiming it was going to be an intermission. A very well deserved one I should say, for Sandy was exhausted and Tooth thirsty. The kids also wanted to go to the bathroom because during the first act they had been given hot chocolate and cookies. The yetis took the children to the bathroom while the guardians rested.

"I'd say it's going well," Bunny said.

"I would hope so," Tooth replied with a low voice, trying to speak as less as possible. "I won't be able to talk for a week."

"I think we all could use some of that," Leonora said, earning a laugh from everyone and a not so pleased huff from the Tooth Fairy.

When the kids were returning from their break and a small secret tours the Yetis agreed to give them, they passed through a hallway with lots and lots closed-doors rooms. Only one had the door slightly opened, and Jamie remembered it as the one where the Tooth Fairy had been the day before. He fell slightly behind from his friends, on purpose, and took a peek inside. It was empty, just like he remembered. He wondered what would the Tooth Fairy be doing there by herself, seemingly distressed, and suddenly remembered the play they were watching. He remembered thinking that the sand figures of those children looked extremely alike them, and then in front of him he thought he saw a figure lying in the bed. He rubbed his eyes and looked again to find it empty once more; spooked by what had happened and thinking it might be a ghost he ran out of the room and caught up to the parade of kids and yetis, saying he just got a little distracted. What he saw he kept it a secret.

* * *

**So, did you like it, hate it, love it? I hope it's not the second, and I hope you're surprised. I tried to make this a little unpredictable, with a turn from the unknown, to surprise you all and so that no one will tell me that they had already guessed it; muahahaha! I hope it worked, and you're probably saying "Again?! Please, no more, he should be already dead!" but I hope you get the meaning underneath it. I also wrote it because I thought it would be interesting to write about Jack and what was he experiencing while everyone else worried and helped, I mean, this is still a story about him. Please, don't forget to review, to tell me about my pros and cons. Thank you all for the support you always show me, and I'm sorry for the inconvenience I've caused you.**

**I hope you all like it.**

**See you soon, on the next chapter,**

**Clear Eyes.**

**P.S.: I guess you all noticed that something happening with Jamie too, right?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello again! To apologize for my delay, I bring to you another chapter RIGHT NOW! Yeah, you heard (read?) me! Here we go with this next chapter, chapter six. Don't forget to review, and thank you all for the support you don't stop showing to me all the time. Enjoy!**

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Chapter Six

The children arrived back to the globe room, happy and excited to see the rest of it. All of them had a slight sense of déjà vu, although the only one to actually notice it was Jamie. When he saw the stage again, right after being in that empty room and having thought about the play closely, he did seem to know where that lake actually was, although he couldn't quite pinpoint it. The children sat down and waited for the second act to begin. What happened in the room affected, not only Jamie, but Jack too.

o-o

When Jamie saw him even for an instant, he fell all his being been tugged, lifted away from the darkness, relieved of an invisible weight he had been holding. He felt alive once again, and even in the darkness of his unconscious, he could feel it very well: the heartbeat of Jamie and his own beating in the same rhythm at the same time. _Jamie_, Jack breathed relieved before falling back into the darkness and again with Pitch Black.

_I hope you enjoyed that, because I doubt it's going to repeat,_ Pitch told him nonchalantly.

_What do you know? Once a child believes, he never really stops,_ Jack spat back at the King of Nightmares.

_Then what do you tell me about the grown-ups?_ _They can't see you, none of you, they don't believe,_ Pitch told him, trying to open a wound or to say something, anything, that would make Jack weak enough for him to control and manipulate once again. Jack stayed silent a few minutes, thinking about his reply.

_I know that the grown-ups can't see us and that they believe we aren't real, but it's because they had the right development as children, believing in us when they had to,_ he simply said. _I also believe that adults can believe if they want to, but it's just far easier to go along the current and not fight to defend the beliefs deemed as childish._

Pitch rolled his eyes and made a face. _Don't include yourself in that statement please; you weren't part of the guardians until a year ago._

They fell silent for a long while, with Pitch recoiling back into the shadows the more Jack's glow brightened while thinking of Jamie. He'd love to crush him, manipulate him, make him quiver in fear for the rest of his days, but his domain was really limited to the deepest parts of anyone's hearts… and Jack was snapping out of it.

o-o

On the meantime, the show was starting back in North workshop. It started with the celebration of being a guardian for a year, the party and the gifts. Then, when Jack had to do his test back in the past, where he met his sister and family once again. Tooth was an excellent narrator and the play was going extremely well. Everyone was coordinated, moved by the same thought of returning the belief in Jack. "Back with his family, Jack didn't know how approach the situation, and even when he was happy to be with his family, he knew something was off," Tooth was saying, and kids were once again wrapped up in the story, the magic and everything around them. For a minute, Jamie forgot about the room he had seen Jack in without knowing it was him and he let his belief be nurtured by that play.

o-o

Jack felt himself growing stronger and stronger, suddenly he felt the weight being lifted off his shoulders and he felt the darkness going away if even bit by bit. _Something, I don't know what they are doing, but it is working._

_I'm going to gag_ Pitch spat at Jack.

_That's because you know nothing of friendship and love. You tried to get the children to see you by fearing you, of course you wouldn't know,_ Jack told him, not really afraid of him anymore. Pitch rolled his eyes.

_Well, for desperate situations, desperate measures_; Pitch didn't like the way the strength of Jack was coming back, and yet he could do nothing about it. He despised the teen and always would until the end of his days, even if that was getting near by the second.

_Those are just excuses_, Jack retorted while smiling; there was no need to pay attention to the depressed spirit when he felt so good once again. _I pity you, Pitch_, Jack declared after a while of silence.

_Oh I'm not taking that from you,_ the Boogey Man told the teen annoyed. _You don't get to tell me that you pity me._

_Just look at you, reduced to the irrational fears of a teen spirit…_ Jack spaced out and didn't finish the idea. _You were never really here to… harm me, were you?_

_Woopie, give the boy a price,_ Pitch said sarcastically.

_So… what are you doing… here? _Jack asked, clearly confused.

_Did the Man in the Moon ever tell you what did he do with me?_ Pitch asked, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Jack shook his head 'no', though and the Boogey Man just rolled his eyes.

_In case you haven't noticed genius, this is my prison._

o-o

Back on the workshop, everyone was enjoying the show. When the sand figure of Pitch appeared again, the kids shivered, again with that feeling of déjà vu no one knew the origin of. The children all booed when Pitch captured Jack and the guardians, also when he tried to make the teen choose between his family and his fellow guardians. Many of them covered their eyes, even when the scenes had been minimized and censored. Pippa and Cupcake were hugging and crying when Jack finally got it together and saved the day. Everyone got sad when they saw the goodbyes between Jack and his family, but when he approved his test and went back they somehow cheered again. The play came to an end and the actors received a standing ovation. The play finished without including the part where everyone forgot about him because of the mistake of defeating Pitch in the past.

"Wow! That was awesome!" Pippa explained and everyone agreed. Jamie also agreed, but he was still thinking about the ending.

"Did he go back?" he asked, startling everyone with the serious look on his face.

"Yes, he went back," Tooth replied, not really knowing where that was going and fearing that the most important kid of the group hadn't liked it. But Jamie was a smart kid and knew that something had gone wrong.

"What happened with the kids?" Jamie asked again, knowing unconsciously the way his questions were going but seemingly having no idea.

"What do you mean?" North asked him but was interrupted by Pippa.

"Why do you even care Jamie? It was just a story; it's not real," she and the kids didn't really notice the pain that crossed the featured of all the guardians, and even Leonora. If they didn't believe that what had they been doing?

"That's what they said about Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny yet here they are, standing in front of you;" Jamie replied slightly pissed and stated he actually believed. Well, not just yet, but he wanted to know if it was real before saying that Jack Frost didn't exist, then he addressed to the guardians. "What happened to the kids?" he asked again.

The guardians exchanged a confused look. "Tell him the truth;" Leonora intervened when they seemed lost. "He is Jack's first believer, isn't he? He will understand." The four visible guardians sighed and looked at Jamie and the kids.

"They were fine, nothing happened to them," North told him.

"But that's not all, isn't it? Those kids were us," Jamie didn't just asked, but he firmly stated that fact, leaving everyone in the room stunned.

"Don't be silly, Jamie," one of the twins told him.

"Yeah, we would remember an adventure like that," the other completed.

"No we wouldn't," Jamie exclaimed getting angry. "If we had by any chance met Jack Frost and everyone else in a fight with the Boogey Man, when Jack defeated three thousand years in the past in the present there was no need for a fight and so we never met them."

"I see why he's Jack's favorite;" Leonora said in delight, almost laughing at the dumbstruck expression the rest of the guardians have.

"A kid figured out in minutes what we took almost a week to accomplish," Bunny said when he snapped out of his awestruck trance. "I feel like an idiot."

"So it's true? What you just showed us?" the little kid with glasses asked.

Tooth nodded. "Yeah, it kind of is."

"Wait a second, if you claim that everything was real, where is Jack Frost right now?" Pippa exclaimed, not quite believing any of it. Irony of it all is that she was in Santa's workshop.

"That's the thing," Tooth started but was cut off by Bunny.

"I don't think we should tell them, it's something way beyond their understanding."

"Listen children, we brought you here today and made that play so that you could believe once more in Jack Frost, that's all we can tell you," North explained them. "We need your help. Do you believe in him or not?"

"I do," Jamie immediately yelled, and then Sophie seeing her brother like that also yelled "Do, do!"

The rest of the kids shared a look; Cupcake was the next one to talk. "I do too," she said.

Then the twins said the same at the same time and the kid with the glasses, and everyone turned to look at Pippa, who couldn't hold those accusatory glares.

"Fine, I do believe in him too," she finally said with a huff, accepting defeat. Everyone smiled and cheered.

"It worked!" Tooth exclaimed.

"Not just yet," Bunny added and everyone grew serious.

Tooth was the first one to move, followed by the rest of the guardians, and all of them went up to the room where Jack laid. The children were retained by the yetis in the globe room, and they were blocked from the stairs, much to their annoyance. The guardians opened slowly the door to the room of the guardian of fun, but he was still unconscious, or asleep, they didn't know. Tooth near the boy and touched his forehead, his temperature was normal, and his color too looked much better. Now they just had to wait for him to wake up.

o-o

_Your prison?_ Jack asked, not really understanding.

_Apparently the Man in the Moon considers you are a courageous young spirit that has the power to always overcome your fears. At first I laughed, I thought that I could easily escape. I was proven wrong when you found me here and suddenly you are telling me you pity me, _Pitch stated clearly bored to have to explain that, and disguising his shame on that statement.

Jack didn't know what to say. _I don't fully understand this,_ he simply said before falling silent.

_It means that you will never let me out of here because you have the courage to fight against your fears; you would die before you let me out of here,_ again Pitch sounded annoyed.

Right then Jack was fully healed, he felt well once again, but he didn't want to leave with things like that. But somehow he wasn't allowed to be there any longer, and he felt himself being pulled back to wherever 'back' was. At the same time Pitch was fading, merging into the darkness that inhabited the deepest corners of Jack's heart. A place so tiny and out of reach that Pitch would never escape, precisely because Jack cared too much to let that happened; he would always be able to fight his fears as long as that meant keeping someone he cared about safe, and he had plenty of them.

_I hope I don't have to see you here anytime soon, okay?_ Pitch called before completely fading. _You're annoying._ Then he was gone and Jack let himself be pulled out of that dark place.

o-o

Slowly, Jack's eyes fluttered open and he had to keep them close while they got used to the light. Around him he could hear noises and voices, although he couldn't make out what they're saying. He opened them again and saw he was in his room on the pole, and he had to wonder how he arrived there. The last he remember was passing out, telling North that Jamie didn't believe. He remembered in a flash everything that had happened until before he lost consciousness, and suddenly knew for sure that Jamie once again believed. Something inside him told him that.

He tried to sit down, but he fell down again and growled when he felt how sore and weak his body was. "Jack!" Tooth almost yell on his ear and was soon by his side helping him up.

"Not so loud Tooth," Jack managed through gritted teeth and turned his head to look at her. He saw she had tears in her eyes and bags under them, she look awfully exhausted, although relieved. She just chuckled; suddenly mute when all the stress caught up to her.

Jack looked around and he saw the rest of the guardians looking relieved, and just as tired as Tooth, if not more.

Bunnymund neared Jack, trying very hard not to look awkward. "If you ever decide to scare us like that, I'll personally snap your neck;" he told him in a serious tone which had frightened Jack for a second, just before he saw the beginning of a warm smile at the ends of Bunny's mouth. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Thanks Bunny, but don't worry, soon I'll be filling your beloved lair with white, cold snow," Jack told the huge rabbit and Bunnymund went pale. Everyone laughed and Sandy was the next to approach. He just put a hand on Jack's shoulder and without words (or images), just looking at him in the eye, the teen understood what he wanted to say.

"Thanks Sandy," he replied and hugged the tiny man. At first Sandy didn't know what to do, but slowly he returned it. They broke apart after a minute and the next one to greet him was North.

North wasn't a subtle man, and he wasn't interested in becoming one; not even for the sake of Jack's sore and stiff body. As long as he was in reach for Jack, he patted him in the back with the strength of a hundred men. Poor Jack almost falls off the bed, although he managed not to, he had to rub his shoulder. "North, be a little gentler," Tooth told him and Jack thanked her with his eyes.

"Please," the out of breath teen added when he saw that North didn't want to.

"I'm sorry Jack, I'm just so relieved you've come to. You have no idea what we went through, and how worried we were;" North explained, trying to keep it strong for the teen.

"Thank you North, I can't tell you how grateful I am," Jack truthfully told him.

Then, and only then, did he notice another figure in the room. A woman, one he had seen very few times in his life, so few that he could count them with one hand's finger. Of course he knew her, but he just never thought he'd seen her there of all places.

"Mother Earth," Jack whispered in awe before doing a small bow towards her.

Leonora, in all her might, neared the teen with all her regal air. It was a hard to ignore such a woman, she was imposing to say the least and Jack's first thought was: 'Was I that bad that _she_ had to come?'

"How are you feeling, Jack?" She asked in an emotionless tone.

"I'm good, much better actually. You're the first one to actually ask me," Jack chuckled.

"Well, I've been around longer. You gave us a scare there, you know?" she told him while she sat down on the mattress next to Jack.

"I know… I'm sorry," he muttered.

"Why are you apologizing?" she asked him.

Jack shrugged. "I just… I made everyone worry, and I made you come here of all places, maybe even bothered you…"

"If you're worried about me being angry at you, you can rest assured; I'm not mad," she told him.

"But…" He tried to reply but she cut him off.

"Hush. I know I've never been very motherly and that I am a very hard person to deal with, but this time you almost died and I'm not going to just sit and wait for you to disappear. I'm just glad you're finally alright," she told him and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Wow, now I'm surprised," Jack joked and earned a smack from Leonora.

"If you ever do that again, you'll have to deal with me," she warned him and he paled.

"But it wasn't even my fault!" poor pale Jack claimed, earning a giggle from everyone.

Jack suddenly fell back into the pillow behind him in the bed, feeling very tired all of the sudden.

"Are you okay?" Tooth immediately asked.

"Yeah, I'm just tired," he replied calming Tooth.

"It's alright, just go to sleep and we'll be here when you wake up," Leonora comfortingly told him and Jack nodded, wanting to succumb to sleep. But before he could finally rest, he had to ask something more.

"Jamie…?"

"He'll also be here. He was a great deal helping us to get you back," Leonora affirmed while she stroked his hair, just like a mother would while lulling her kid to sleep.

"I know… he's…" he never got to finish the sentence because he gave in to exhaustion willingly and Sandy had already sent him a real nice and warm dream after all the problems he had gone through.

Just then did everyone sighed and fell to the floor, right on the spot they were standing. Everything in the last few days finally caught up to them and everyone went to sleep. Who cares about duties? For one night they didn't want them, for only one night they wanted to spend it with their beloved Jack, even if it was only in dreams.

Leonora watched as they succumbed to their own exhaustion and smiled at the comical situation. She was also tired, but she knew better than to just drift off. Instead she went to check up on the kids, who had fallen asleep waiting. Only Jamie was awake and worried about Jack, he tried to remember some of the memories he was sure they shared, but how can you remember something that never happened?

"Phil;" Mother Earth called and the huge Yeti turned to her. "Take all the kids home; and tomorrow very early in the morning I want you to bring Jamie back, before Jack wakes up. We don't want parents freaking out because of this, so do me that favor."

Phil nodded and with the help of two other Yetis, he opened the portal and together carried all the other kids home. Only Jamie stayed behind. "Do I really have to go?" he asked, and Leonora took her time processing it was a question directed to her. She blinked in surprise.

"Are you talking to me?" she asked the kid.

"Duh, who else?" Jamie retorted.

"You… You can… see me…?" she asked a little in shock. That shouldn't be possible, not even in her wildest dreams.

"Of course, since the play was going on I noticed you were standing there. Just, who are you exactly?"

"Wow, a kid can see me but doesn't recognize me," she muttered before answering. "I am Mother Earth or Leonora for the close ones." Why she ever told the kid her name she'll never know.

"Wow! I always knew you were real!" the kid exclaimed before remembering the real topic of their conversation. "Do I really have to go?"

"What's on your mind kiddo?"

"It's just that… when I saw the play I knew we were the kids being projected there. I knew I had met Jack before and that he had watched me and I… just don't want to think that all of that never happened… I can't remember…" Leonora kneeled to be eye level with Jamie and pursed her lips, thinking what to tell the distressed kid.

"When I saw you for the first time I knew why Jack was so fond of you; you remind him of himself and because of that he wants to be there to protect you because no one ever was there to protect him. I know it's hard for you to fully understand what happened or why, to all of us is, but now you believe in him and you can create so many new memories. Jamie you just saved his life with your belief, so those memories you treasure so much will come back eventually, even if they're in the form of new ones. And just to answer your question, yes, you have to go. Just imagine how worried your parents will be if you don't get home tonight, and then imagine the grounding. We don't want that, right? So just go home tonight and tomorrow you'll come back. I promise," Leonora told him and she recognized the innocent spark, the same Jack held, in this boy's eyes. There was something more to this kid that she couldn't figure out; something more that kept the link between Jack and Jamie strong and growing each passing moment.

The kid nodded excited. "You promised!" he said lastly before going home through the magic portal.

"He's a nice kid, isn't he?" Leonora was startled by a booming voice behind her, only relaxing when she turned and found North looking at her with those eyes full of wonder. She blushed and looked away.

"He's… alright… I guess," was all she could reply. "Wait, you knew he could see me?"

"I might have happened to notice during the performance," the big man replied with a sweet smile. "He was watching you in awe when you were creating those amazing special effects."

Again she blushed and she hated herself for it. "Stop that, will you?" she snapped at him him, a little bit too rudely. North blinked and looked around, making sure they were the only ones away, and then pointed to himself with both his thumbs. "Yes you! You make me… feel weird, you make me blush and say stuff that… you know… ugh! Whatever it is; is frustrating!"

The second the words left her mouth she regretted them and her hands flew to her mouth. She couldn't have possible said that, it wasn't supposed to be known by anyone. She was supposed to keep it in herself and forget about it once she was gone and back to her home, but again, that man made her do strange things.

"I can't stop doing… whatever you think I'm doing, because I don't even know what I'm doing that's making you this upset," North tried to explain her that he had no idea what she meant.

"Just forget I said anything, okay? That way we'll save ourselves a lot of embarrassment," Leonora said and got out of the room, frustrated with everyone and everything, but mostly herself. North was left just standing there, not really knowing what to do and really confused about her attitude. On the floor where she was standing, he saw a beautiful Lilac* flower and took it in his hands, trying to comprehend its meaning; then he went to the library.

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**So, what did you think? Just so you know, I did choose the Lilac for a reason, but it will be told on the next chapter; so please bear with me until then. I think you already know what I'm trying to do, but I won't say it just yet. Please review, I especially want to know what do you think about the evolution in character of Leonora? It's a risky move this one I'm trying to pull and I just want to know your opinion in that respect.**

**Once again thanks for all the support you've been showing towards this story and towards me. I know I still have some stories to finish, I haven't abandoned them, but I just realized I can't write two at the same time, so as soon as I'm finished with this story I'll continue with the others.**

**Overall that's all and I hope you liked it,**

**See you soon on the next chapter**

**Clear Eyes**


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